Balbinus

Balbinus (178-29 July 238) was Roman emperor from 22 April to 29 July 238 with Pupienus, succeeding Gordian I/Gordian II and preceding Gordian III.

Biography
Decimus Caelius Calvinus Balbinus was born in 178, the son of consul ordinarius Publius Coelius Balbinus Vibullius Pius and a descendant of the politician Quintus Pompeius Falco. He was adopted as the son of Caelius Calvinus, the legate of Cappadocia in 184, and he served as proconsul of Asia and Africa under Emperor Caracalla. Balbinus was appointed to a twenty-man committee to rule Rome in the absence of Gordian I and Gordian II during their rebellion against Maximinus Thrax, but on 22 April 238 Balbinus and fellow committee member Pupienus were appointed co-emperors after the murder of Gordian I and Gordian II in North Africa. Balbinus was asked to keep public order in Rome as Pupienus led an army to Ravenna to fight Thrax, but Balbinus failed in keeping public order. When Pupienus returned to Rome with German bodyguads, Balbinus feared that Pupienus was there to kill him, and they lived in opposite sides of the palace. On 29 July 238, the two paranoid emperors were kidnapped by the hostile Praetorian Guard and taken to their barracks, where they were hacked to death by Praetorians - the Praetorian Guard did not approve of Roman Senate-appointed emperors.